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Our Educational Specialist will analyze your child’s learning profile through careful evaluation of underlying cognitive and processing abilities, oral language abilities, literacy skills, and math skills. Along with the family interview and review of school records, the diagnostic evaluation process helps our Educational Specialist identify your child’s constellation of strengths and weaknesses—or what your child’s brain does and does not like to do.
Through the diagnostic evaluation process, our team of Educational Specialists will diagnose any specific learning disabilities, provide a roadmap for customized intervention, and outline strategic 504 Plan accommodations as appropriate for your child. We identify the root cause(s) of your child’s learning challenges and design a long-term solution—a solution that will reset your child’s trajectory for learning and for and life.
The Early Language and Literacy Diagnostic Screening, for children aged 4-7, includes review of your child’s developmental history, therapeutic/learning interventions, parent observation inventory, and teacher observation inventory. It also provides an assessment of early language and literacy skills, including six informal early literacy tests, eleven formal measures of phonological processing, two informal measures of orthographic skills, four formal measures of memory function, six formal tests of rapid naming, four formal measures of oral language development, and three formal measures of general intellectual ability (working memory, phonological processing, and visual-spatial reasoning). A fully-documented, narrative report with recommendations as well as a one-hour consultation with an Educational Specialist are provided soon after the evaluation is complete. This diagnostic screening identifies your child’s language and literacy profile as well as the potential presence of dyslexia (if warranted); it does not result in a full diagnosis.
The Diagnostic Assessment for Dyslexia, for individuals aged 6-adult, includes review of the individual’s developmental history, therapeutic/learning interventions, parent rating scale, teacher rating scale, self-rating scale, and a warning signs of dyslexia inventory. Additionally, it provides a thorough assessment of cognitive-linguistic abilities, oral language, and literacy skills, including standardized measures of phonological processing, phonological memory, orthographic processing, rapid automatized naming, visual-verbal learning, word recognition, decoding, spelling, vocabulary, independent comprehension, word reading fluency, sentence reading fluency, passage fluency, listening comprehension, receptive vocabulary, picture analogies, and geometric analogies. A fully-documented report with recommendations for intervention and accommodations along with a one-hour consultation with an Educational Specialist are provided soon after the evaluation is complete. This process provides a formal diagnosis of dyslexia if warranted.
The Partial Diagnostic Evaluation, for individuals aged 8-adult, includes review of the individual’s developmental history, therapeutic/learning interventions, review of school data and IEP goals, parent observation, teacher observation, and warning signs of dyslexia inventory. It involves careful analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, including an in-depth assessment of language, literacy, and math abilities/skills. It is comprised of multiple standardized measures, thoroughly covering decoding, word recognition, vocabulary, oral reading fluency, comprehension, spelling, math concepts, math fact fluency, quantitative reasoning, phonological processing, rapid naming, auditory memory span, and oral language development. Following the evaluation, a detailed narrative report with recommendations for intervention and accommodations (helpful for a 504 Plan), a results consultation with an Educational Specialist, and a follow-up consultation with an Educational Specialist are provided. This process provides a full diagnosis or diagnoses of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and/or dyscalculia as warranted.
The Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluation, for individuals aged 5-adult, includes review of one’s developmental history, therapeutic/learning interventions, review of school data and IEP goals, parent observation, teacher observation, and warning signs of dyslexia inventory. The Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluation provides a thorough analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, including assessment of cognitive abilities (General Intellectual Abilities), oral language, literacy, and math abilities/skills. Specifically, it includes the diagnostic evaluation of verbal intelligence, non-verbal intelligence, visual-spatial reasoning, memory function, processing speed, phonological processing, orthographic processing, rapid naming, oral language development, decoding, word recognition, vocabulary, oral reading fluency, independent comprehension, listening comprehension, spelling, writing, and mathematics. Following the evaluation, a fully-documented narrative report with recommendations for intervention and accommodations, in-depth results consultation with an Educational Specialist, and a support consultation with an Educational Specialist are provided. This process includes a full diagnosis or diagnoses of specific learning disabilities (such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, processing speed disorder, comprehension deficit, etc.) and/or twice exceptionality as warranted.
No, we unfortunately are not able to process any insurance payments. However, we are able to provide you with a letter containing codes that your insurance may accept. In the past, some insurance companies have reimbursed our clients for the testing.
Although we do not assess for or diagnose ADHD (or ADD), we have expertise crafting customized accommodations (for a 504 Plan or an IEP) and providing highly effective, customized intervention for children and young adults who have ADHD (or ADD).
Yes, our team of educational specialists collaboratively analyzes all data within the context of your child’s developmental and educational history. With this comprehensive information and thorough diagnostic testing, our educational specialists identify Specific Learning Disabilities (as warranted), including dyslexia (all types and varying degrees even after remediation), dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and reading comprehension deficit.
We also identify cognitive and language processing difficulties, including dysnomia, slow processing speed, poor memory function, and underdeveloped verbal, non-verbal, and/or visual-spatial cognitive (intelligence) abilities. Our educational specialists have significant expertise identifying one’s profile of strengths and weaknesses, determining the root cause(s) of one’s learning difficulties, and designing a detailed plan for the scope and type of intervention necessary to overcome learning difficulties.
Additionally, we identify twice-exceptionality in individuals who have one or more learning differences coupled with significant strengths in areas of high-level intelligence or other giftings. Our team provides recommendations to address the learning difficulties and cultivate the areas of notable strength/giftedness. Expert support from one of our educational specialists or learning specialists is also available to help you prepare for and navigate 504 Plan or IEP meetings.
Please utilize the scheduling links provided via email to sign up for and schedule your child’s evaluation. While most evaluations require one testing day, the Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluation requires two days of testing. For comprehensive testing, please ensure the test dates are not more than 14 days apart.
For the evaluation process, you will be provided with several forms to complete and return to the office before testing begins. These will include forms to be completed by the child’s parent(s) or legal guardian, school teacher(s), and interventionist (as applicable). The forms will include questions about your child’s medical history, developmental history, educational history, provision of and response to intervention, history of accommodations, strengths (both school and non-scholastic), and weaknesses (school and non-school related).
Parents may utilize the completed report and identified learning difference(s) to request a meeting to discuss and develop a 504 Plan. Parents may also utilize the report’s findings to communicate with their school their desire to begin the student eligibility testing process (for a potential IEP) with AEA. This information on the Iowa Department of Education’s website provides helpful guidance for parents of children who have been diagnosed with dyslexia: (add link; DOE just launched a new website and the search function is not yet working, so we will have to come back to this.)
We recommend that families take the attached two documents with them when they meet with the school to request a 504 Plan or to begin the IEP process. These helpful documents are credible resources that may be beneficial as you meet with the school.
No, we unfortunately are not able to process any insurance payments. However, we are able to provide you with a letter containing codes that your insurance may accept. Should we find any specific learning disabilities from the evaluation, we can provide the specific codes from the DSM-5. In the past, some insurance companies have reimbursed our clients for the testing.
Although we do not assess for or diagnose ADHD (or ADD), we have expertise crafting customized accommodations (for a 504 Plan or an IEP) and providing highly effective, customized intervention for children and young adults who have ADHD (or ADD).
Yes, our team of educational psychologists collaboratively analyzes all data within the context of your child’s developmental and educational history. With this comprehensive information and thorough diagnostic testing, our educational psychologists diagnose Specific Learning Disabilities (as warranted), including dyslexia (all types and varying degrees even after remediation), dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and reading comprehension deficit.
We also diagnose cognitive and language processing difficulties, including dysnomia, slow processing speed, poor memory function, and underdeveloped verbal, non-verbal, and/or visual-spatial cognitive (intelligence) abilities. Our educational psychologists have significant expertise identifying one’s profile of strengths and weaknesses, determining the root cause(s) of one’s learning difficulties, and designing a detailed plan for the scope and type of intervention necessary to overcome learning difficulties.
Additionally, we identify twice-exceptionality in individuals who have one or more learning differences coupled with significant strengths in areas of high-level intelligence or other giftings. Our team provides recommendations to address the learning difficulties and cultivate the areas of notable strength/giftedness. Expert support from one of our educational psychologists or learning specialists is also available to help you prepare for and navigate 504 Plan or IEP meetings.
Please utilize the scheduling links provided via email to sign up for and schedule your child’s evaluation. While most evaluations require one testing day, the Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluation requires two days of testing. For comprehensive testing, please ensure the test dates are not more than 14 days apart.
For the evaluation process, you will be provided with several forms to complete and return to the office before testing begins. These will include forms to be completed by the child’s parent(s) or legal guardian, school teacher(s), and interventionist (as applicable). The forms will include questions about your child’s medical history, developmental history, educational history, provision of and response to intervention, history of accommodations, strengths (both school and non-scholastic), and weaknesses (school and non-school related).
Parents may utilize the completed report and identified learning difference(s) to request a meeting to discuss and develop a 504 Plan. Parents may also utilize the report’s findings to communicate with their school their desire to begin the student eligibility testing process (for a potential IEP) with AEA. This information on the Iowa Department of Education’s website provides helpful guidance for parents of children who have been diagnosed with dyslexia: (add link; DOE just launched a new website and the search function is not yet working, so we will have to come back to this.)
We recommend that families take the attached two documents with them when they meet with the school to request a 504 Plan or to begin the IEP process. These helpful documents are credible resources that may be beneficial as you meet with the school.
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